Headlights
by MissMcGinger
Summary: She tried to reply but she was feeling dizzy and even sicker, it took her a long moment before she could speak again "Jeffrey I don't feel so fine after all."


"Jeffrey, I've given Lil Abs his tea and let him out. Don't leave him out there all night! I will see you in the morning" Dixie shouted up the stairs, she had volunteered to do a night shift as a rapid responder as they were short staffed and Jeff had already done it twice in the last week.

"Kay Dix have fun!" He replied appearing at the top of the stairs with a cheeky grin, he knew she hated being a rapid responder she liked to see her patients all the way to the hospital and not just on scene. Jeff waved her off whistling to himself as he went to let lil Abs in and find a takeaway menu "let's make the most of this and watch the footy how does that sound?" He asked the dog with a small chuckle at himself.

Dixie's night seemed to be going quite well for a Friday, she had dealt with a couple of drink related call outs but there had also been a pile up on the motorway and a possible heart attack. Finally 2am came round and Dixie yawned as she wandered into the break room to make herself a coffee, sitting on the couch she started to play with her mobile until she finally decided to ring Jeff half convinced he would be asleep on the couch with a full beer in his hand.

After only a couple of rings Jeff picked up the phone "S'upose you thought I would be asleep aye?" He answered.

"Nope of course not mate." she replied laughing at the fact he knew what she had been thinking.

"Well me and lil Abs are watching Dracula muwhahahaha!" he replied causing her to laugh again.

"mate I think your sleep deprived" she replied laughing, "anyway don't let lil Abs get to scared I ain't looking after him all day when he's howling at every shadow" she warned remembering the last time he had been up all night with Jeff watching scary films.

"mmmm yeah, yeah" He answered using his hand to mimic her mothering tone.

'And don't do that hand thing in!' she added making him look at the phone in surprise. 'I know you too well Jeffrey' She explained knowing exactly what his expression would be.

"Stalker" He muttered.

"Ha sore loser Mr Collier" she accused "Anyway gotta go, got another call out" she added dumping her coffee and jumping into the ambulance as her radio crackled to life.

"Right be careful mad cow" he replied waiting for her laugh before hanging up and turning to the dog currently lying on his feet. "Mammy says it's bedtime, but what mammy doesn't know won't hurt her" he explained stroking the dogs golden fur, "but if she asks it's not daddy's fault" he added as an afterthought.

It had begun to rain at around midnight, but it was really starting coming down as Dixie drove through the almost dead roads, she was still 15 minutes away from the scene but as rapid responder she was also the closest and would be for a while. She was glad the car was out of action and she had to use an ambulance as she felt safer doing nearly double the speed limit in this weather the weight of the vehicle kept its tyres from slipping, and she speed towards her scene a small farmhouse just out in the countryside.

As the house drew closer Dixie let out a small sigh of relief she hated driving along roads like this In the dead of night. She hummed to herself as she drove following the twists and turns further into the woods "why anyone would want to live out here I have no idea," She muttered to herself.

Just as she was starting to get annoyed at what felt like a never ending road a large flash of brown suddenly appeared in front of the cab, acting on instinct Dixie tried to swerve to avoid the deer but the combination of rain and lose gravel road sent the van spinning out of control and off the road.

There was a large crash which sent birds and other animals fleeing the scene but then everything calmed down and the only sound for a long moment was the rain hitting the crushed form of the ambulance.

Dixie woke a little while later and was immediately met with pain radiating throughout her body, for a couple of seconds she couldn't work out why then as she looked round she realised she was in the ambulances crushed cab. An excruciating pain in her stomach made her look down and her blood ran cold as she saw a thick tree branch coming through the window and impaling her to the seat. She swallowed hard as she placed her hand below the branch and pulled it back revealing a large amount of blood on her hand "shit" she muttered as she looked around trying to find her radio.

When she couldn't find the radio she dropped her head back against the seat for a moment taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she started to ask herself the questions she would ask a patient. "Okay…was I unconciouss? Yes. For how long I don't know," She continued like this until one question made her stop "can you feel your toes." she realised for the first time that she couldn't feel her legs, she couldn't see below the branch because the cab had been crushed in covering her lower half biting her lip she suddenly realised how much danger she was in.

Reaching down she was trying to feel her legs when instead she felt her mobile in her pocket, after much swearing and gritting her teeth through the pain she managed to pull it out realising the screen was smashed she almost threw it in frustration however she noticed the buttons were still working. "Yes" she cried out, there was one number she knew off by heart.

As she typed in the eleven digits she prayed she had a signal and when she finally managed to bring it to her ear she sighed in relief when she heard that it was ringing.

"Awww Dixie are you missing us" answered Jeff in a teasing tone.

"Jeffery I need you to shut up for once in your life and listen to me." She replied trying to hide the pain in her voice but failed miserably when she tried to feel anything under the branch.

"Dix what's wrong?!" asked Jeff picking up on the pain in her voice, he stood and quickly tried to find his car keys.

"There was a deer and I tried to swerve…I lost control….I'm stuck" she stammered almost crying out when she realised her feet wouldn't move. She bit her lip trying hard not to start crying as the seriousness of the situation started to sink in.

Jeff had found the keys and had jumped in his car "You need to keep calm princess, okay? Where are you, I'm on my way" he explained waiting for her location before making a swift U turn and speeding off in the opposite direction towards her.

Dixie noticed her fleece on the floor where the passenger seat used to be, she figured she could use it to try and stop some of the blood loss from the branch but she just had to reach it.

"Dixie, how seriously are you hurt? Do I need to hang up and ring the ED to get help?' He asked still unsure how hurt she was or whether she was just stuck and freaking out.

She had been trying to reach the fleece and not scream as it made the pain so much worse, she gave up just as Jeff asked how hurt she was. Breathing heavily from both the pain and the nausea she took a moment to answer "Possible spinal injuries, trapped from the waist down by the crushed cab with no feeling anywhere from the waist to the toes and no response to pain in the waist." She replied sounding mechanical as if she was talking about someone else "substantial blood loss, strong pulse but breathing is becoming slow and laboured."

Jeff held his breath as he listened his foot pressing down harder on the accelerator as she described each issue "Have you got anything to try and slow the blood loss?" He asked trying to list the injuries by seriousness.

He waited until she had explained her efforts to reach something before he swallowed "Okay I need to ring the ED and get help Dix, can you try to reach the fleece again while I do that?" He asked trying his hardest to stay calm. He knew he needed to keep her conscious by talking to her but he also needed to get a doctor out there and not waste any time doing so. He waited until Dixie agreed and warned her to keep her phone next to her before he hung up promising to ring straight back. After he had rung the ED and managed to get Zoe and Charlie to come out to where he thought Dixie was. Warning them about the possibility of spinal injuries and blood loss.

He rang Dixie's mobile back relived when she answered after the first ring "Hey Dix how are you feeling?" He asked trying to keep the mood light for them both.

"I'm fine." Dixie replied closing her eyes to try and hold back the nausea from trying to move again.

"Right and how do you really feel?" He asked wanting to roll his eyes.

Dixie was about to respond again when the need to be sick became overwhelming and she retched groaning at the pain that blossomed in her chest and stomach.

"Princess?" Jeff asked absolutely hating that he couldn't do anything to help her

She tried to reply but she was feeling dizzy and even sicker, it took her a long moment before she could speak again "Jeffrey I don't feel so fine after all." She admitted noticing that she was also starting to feel the cold.


End file.
